Daily Mail uploads footage of MH370 pilots

PETALING JAYA: CCTV footage, supposedly of the pilot and co-pilot going through security checks at the KL International Airport (KLIA) prior to boarding the Malaysia Airlines MH370 flight, has found its way onto the Internet.

British tabloid Daily Mail uploaded a CCTV recording of Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah and first officer Fariq Abdul Hamid on their website, which showed the two being frisked as they passed a security checkpoint at the boarding gate in KLIA before the flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8.

The Daily Mail also speculated that the words spoken in the last communication from the plane was suspicious.

The tabloid said the usual sign-off would have been 'Roger and out', and not 'All right. Good night.'

It also said whoever was talking did not mention a problem with the flight.

This, coupled with the fact the plane's communication equipment was disabled before the exchange took place "suggested an attempt to mislead ground control", and added to "suspicions that someone who knew the controls was involved in the disappearance".

Acting Transport Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein told the media Sunday that the plane's Aircraft Communications and Reporting System (Acars) was turned off before the last spoken communication with the plane.

However, it was still not known whose voice it was over the radio.

Hishammuddin also said that the investigation was now focusing on the pilots because of this revelation.

CCTV footage, supposedly of the pilot and co-pilot going through security checks at the KL International Airport (KLIA) prior to boarding the Malaysia Airlines MH370 flight, has found its way onto the Internet.

This, coupled with the fact the plane's communication equipment was disabled before the exchange took place "suggested an attempt to mislead ground control", and added to "suspicions that someone who knew the controls was involved in the disappearance".

First Officer Fariq Abdul Hamid, 27, who along with a fellow pilot violated airline rules in 2011 by allowing two young South African women into their cockpit during a flight, one of the women told Sydney-based Nine Network.

"Malaysia Airlines has become aware of the allegations being made against First Officer Fariq Abdul Hamid which we take very seriously. We are shocked by these allegations," a statement by the airline said.

"We have not been able to confirm the validity of the pictures and videos of the alleged incident. As you are aware, we are in the midst of a crisis, and we do not want our attention to be diverted," the airline said.